Auditory and visual attention-based apparent motion share functional parallels.
A perception of coherent motion can be obtained in an otherwise ambiguous or illusory visual display by directing one's attention to a feature and tracking it. We demonstrate an analogous auditory effect in two separate sets of experiments. The temporal dynamics associated with the attention-dependent auditory motion closely matched those previously reported for attention-based visual motion. Since attention-based motion mechanisms appear to exist in both modalities, we also tested for multimodal (audiovisual) attention-based motion, using stimuli composed of interleaved visual and auditory cues. Although subjects were able to track a trajectory using cues from both modalities, no one spontaneously perceived "multimodal motion" across both visual and auditory cues. Rather, they reported motion perception only within each modality, thereby revealing a spatiotemporal limit on putative cross-modal motion integration. Together, results from these experiments demonstrate the existence of attention-based motion in audition, extending current theories of attention-based mechanisms from visual to auditory systems.
Huddleston
Wendy E
WE
Department of Human Movement Sciences, University of Wisconsin, P. O. Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201-0413, USA. huddlest@uwm.edu
Lewis
James W
JW
Phinney
Raymond E
RE
DeYoe
Edgar A
EA
D001288:Attention; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception; D009903:Optical Illusions; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception; D055815:Young Adult